Torpedo-guard for ships.



C. M. DROSTE ToRPEDo GUARD Foa SHIPS.

APPLICATION FILEUTAUG. 1918.

1,294,065. Patented. Feb.11,1919.

CASPER M. DROSTE, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

TORPEDO-GUARD FOR SHIPS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11i, 1919.

Application filed August 5, 1918. Serial N o. 248,455.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CASPER M. Dnos'rn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Torpedo- Guards for Ships, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in guards to be placed upon sea going ships to protect them from torpedo attacks, and its objects are: First, to provide a set of guards for protecting ships from torpedo attacks that will not materially interfere with the free passage of the ship through the water. Second, to provide such a guard that will exercise sufficient resiliency to greatly lessen the danger to a vessel when a torpedo comes in contact with the guards. Third, to provide a guard of the kind stated that will invariably return into normal position after receiving the impactl of the torpedo. Fourth, to provide a guard of the kind stated that may be readily attached and removed if desired.

I attain these objects by the mechanism and manner of attachment shown in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a transverse section of a ship with my guards in place. Fig. 2 is an elevation of a short piece of the side of a ships hull, with my guards in place. Fig. 3 isla perspective of a short piece of a ships keel showing the manner of applying the guards. Fig. 4: shows the guard passing through the keel as a single spring.

My guards consist of a number of long,

very eiiicient springs 3 secured at one end to the hull, 1, as at 5, in such a manner that the other ends may be made to slide through mortises in the keel 2, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3. When the two piece guards shown in Figs. 1 and 3, are used I find it advisable, and really necessary to place auxiliary springs, as 11, upon the hull of the ship in such a manner that they will act, irst,fto stiften or increase the resiliency of the guards sufficiently to insure the necessary resistance to the impact of the torpedo to minimize the effect of the explosion of the same, and, second, to insure the return of the guards into their normal positions after h aving been forced out of position by the 1mpact of an approaching torpedo.V When using the two piece guards I nd it well to form slots 10, near the free ends 4L of the guards, where they pass through the slots 6, and to pass bolts 8 through the holes 7 and through said slots. These bolts act a double purpose: first, to secure the securing beam 9 firmly to the keel 2, to form the mortises 6 without the necessity of framing said mortises through the keel, and, second, to avert the danger of the ends t being drawn free from the keel, upon their rebound after having been forced over by a torpedo. The use of thev extension, 9, of the keel acts a triple purpose: first, to facilitate the forming of the mortises 6 and, second, to extend the keel far enough to safely warrant the placing of the guards throughV it, and, third, to extend the keel far enough below the guards to safely protect them from such obstructions as might engage-the keel and, with less protection, interfere badly with the guards.

When using a single guard for both sides of the hull of the ship, as shown in Fig. 1, which is necessary in some positions, as upon the curves'of the bow or stern of the ship, the call for the springs 11 is not so imperative as with the two piece guards, as the resiliency of an integral spring secured to the hull at both ends, is greatly increased over that of a two piece spring with the meeting ends slidingly overlapped.

With the guards properly placed the resistance of the water between the guards and the hull of the ship will be sufficient to avert the danger of material damage to the ship even though the impact of the torpedo should be sufficient to explode it.

What I claim as `new in the art, is:

l. In combination with the hull and keel of a ship, spring guards secured at one end to each side of the hull and the other ends passed through mortises in the keel and having slots through them, and a bolt passed through the keel vertically and through said slots torestrict the sliding movement of the ends of the springs.

2. In combination with the hull and keel of a ship, an extension placed upon the lower surface of the keel and having mortises therethrough, spring guards secured at ,one end to the sides of the hull and the other ends passed through the mortises in the keel and having slots therethrough, and bolts passing through the keel and through the slots in the springs to restrict the sliding passing through the inortises inthe keel, ami movement of the ends of the springs through auxiliary springs secured ,t0 the Vhull 'and c0- the mortises in the keel. operating with the spring guard to increase 10 3. In combination with the hull und keel resiliency. 5 of a. ship, the keel having niortises formed Signed at Grand Rapids, Michigan, July therethrough, spring guards secured at one 31, 1918. end to the sides of the hull, the other ends CASPER M. DROSTE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner o! lPatentl, Weshingtom D. C. 

